Share memories of growing up with the great music of the 50s, 60s and 70s. My background includes radio and television personality as well as V.P. A&R for A&M Records, where I signed Bryan Adams. In 1997, I began Treasure Island Oldies, the Home of Lost Treasures. I play the biggies, but extensively feature hard to find rare oldies. Listen live Sundays 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific and also the show archives at www.TreasureIslandOldies.com
Let the memories flow!

Friday, September 29, 2006

I just saw this on YouTube and had to give you the chance to see the Fab Four live. Ticket To Ride was recorded during the April 11, 1965 New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert. Enjoy!! See on Treasure Island Oldies this Sunday!Michael

You'll recall the post I made the other day regarding ifbyphone.com and the services it offers to the visually impaired, blind, seniors, etc. I made the posting to let some of my visually impaired listeners know that there is a new service available that might be of interest to them.

Shortly after the posting was made, I sent an email to the company via their website letting them know about both the mention on the show and the posting to the blog. Less than an our later, I received an email from Irv Shapiro at ifyphone.com thanking me. He also made a PayPal donation to the show as a thank you. A few minutes later I received an email from an advertising plaement company, AdBrite, informing me that ifbyphone had just placed an ad on the Treasure Island Oldies website.

So when you are visiting Treasure Island Oldies, please click on the message "Email without a computer - Know someone w/o email beause they don't have a computer. We can help." You'll be brought to the ifbyphonemail.com site for more informtion.

And thank you to Irv Shapiro at ifbyphonemail.com for the advertising support. Much appreciated.

Jamie Lyons, the lead singer of The Music Explosion, has passed away from a heart attack suffered at his home in South Carolina.

The Music Explosion were formed in Mansfield, Ohio from the remnants of two other groups, Kings English and the British Walkers. They came to the attention of producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, a production team which also had their own hit, Quick Joey Small by the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus. They also produced the 1910 Fruitgum Co. and Ohio Express.

The Music Explosion got their name from a jingle used on a New York City radio station, "your music explosion station". They had a couple of false starts including a version of Little Black Egg, which fared ok regionally and was also recorded by The Nightcrawlers. They hit paydirt with a song recorded by British writer, John Carter, Little Bit O' Soul. That song went to No.2 on the Billboard chart in 1967 and also became a Gold record.

Jay Siegel recently went to his granddaughter'skindergarten class for show and tell.

Abigail Hanania, 5, thought the kids in her classwould be interested to hear her grandfather sing.Siegel, who performs with his doo-wop group, TheTokens, Wednesday night in The Villages, is best knownfor the all-time classic The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

"Everywhere I go, everybody knows that song," Siegelsaid.

Even kindergarten kids.Siegel showed up in Abigail's class, and, to hissurprise, her little buddies started singing alongwith "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

"I was kind of surprised," Siegel said. "I know thesong is popular, but I wasn't sure if 5-year-oldswould know the words but they did."

It was 1961, when the original "The Lion SleepsTonight" hit No. 1 on the record charts. Siegel hadbeen part of The Tokens since the mid 1950s, when heperformed in the group then headed by fellow Brooklynhigh school student Neil Sedaka.

Sedaka left for a successful solo career but Siegelstayed with The Tokens, first singing doo-wop harmonyon street corners. Eventually, the group signed arecord deal and had a hit, "Tonight I Fell In Love,"in early 1961.

Siegel had an idea for another song. He had been a bigfan of the folk music group, The Weavers. Pete Seegerof the Weavers sang a South African folk song called"Wemoweh."

Siegel and The Tokens added a few changes, kept the"wem-o-weh" chorus and called it "The Lion SleepsTonight." Back in 1961, this was a totally new sound,a strange combination of doo-wop, pop and folk music.It was an immediate smash.

"No one could predict that this song would have suchan impact," Siegel said. "I had a record of the oldPete Seeger song and wanted to do it a different way.But I never thought that it would last so long andtouch so many people."

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight," never really went away. Itkeeps appearing in commercials and television shows,including the long-running comedy "Friends." But thebiggest jolt of new life for the song came in the mid1990s, when Disney's animated feature "The Lion King"was released.

Right smack in the middle of the film, and later theground-breaking stage musical, was the old hit, "TheLion Sleeps Tonight." RCA decided to re-release thesingle, and it became a Top 20 hit more than 30 yearsafter its original release.

"I never figured on anything like that ever happeningto me or the song. How could you?" Siegel said. "Butit's great, because it makes you feel a part ofsomething that's bigger than just a song. 'The LionSleeps Tonight' has a place in American musichistory."

The National Endowment for the Arts and the RecordingIndustry Association of America agrees. They named"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as one of the 300 greatestsongs of the 20th century.

A few years ago, Siegel ran into Pete Seeger whileboth were performing at a music festival in theMidwest. "I went to see Pete after the show," Siegelsaid. "I told him, 'If it wasn't for you, I wouldn'tbe here today.' He was very gracious."

The Tokens never matched the success of "Lion,"although they had some hit records, including"Portrait of My Love," "She Lets Her Hair Down" and "IHear Trumpets Blow." Later, Siegel had a hand inproducing other artists such as Tony Orlando and Dawn,as well as the Chiffons' hit single, "He's So Fine."

Siegel and members of the Tokens also sang back-up forother artists, including Bob Dylan, Mac Davis and DelShannon.

These days, Siegel and the Tokens may be bestrecognized for their appearances on the PBS doo-wopspecials.

"Radio today is so tight and so controlled by the bigcorporations; PBS is the only place you can hear thismusic," Siegel said. "I think it's sad because so manypeople love this kind of music and the oldies. But thebig companies don't want to play it."

Siegel helps keeps the old music alive through astrenuous touring schedule.

"I love it. People come up to me and say, 'Thank youfor helping us to feel young again.' We sing the songsthe way we sang them years ago. We know that's whatthe people want."

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A listener in Inkster, Michigan, Vicki, has told me about a new service in place since July of this ear. It's called ifbyphone, which in essence, is a voicemail service that is of great assistance to the visually impaired. Vicki does not have a computer, so she listens to Treasure Island Oldies via MBN, the Mobile Broadcast Network. In addition, she can receive email via her phone. That's where ifbyphone comes into play.

You can send an email to the person using this service; say it's John Doe. So you end an email to johndoe@ifbyphonemail.com and then John Doe's phone will ring, and a computerized voice will read the email message.

There are other things that ifbyphone do. Here's the link. Check it out for yourself.

Just so you know, I have nothing to do with this company. I thought that it mght be of interest to some of my visually impaired listeners, so I'm passing on this information.

Monday, September 25, 2006

The Bobby Fuller Four scored a big hit with right out of the box with their debut single I Fought The Law. The group formed in El Paso, Texas and consisted of brothers Bobby and Randy Fuller, with guitarist Jim Reese and DeWayne Quinco on drums. Bobby sang lead and played guitar, while Randy played bass.

They were well on their way to becoming a hit group with a significant following until Bobby's untimely and very mysterious death from asphyxiation on July 18, 1966. To this day there is not a definitive explanation of what happened to Bobby Fuller.

Apart from their two hits, they also recorded another single, Phantom Dragster, that failed to make the chart. I will play that song on the show one of these days as the Car Tune feature, just so you can hear it.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features the two smash songs by the Bobby Fuller Four, I Fought The Law and Love's Made A Fool Of You. The latter was a cover recording of the Buddy Holly tune.

I think this is going to be a tough call as to which song will come out on top. You can help determine that by coming to Treasure Island Oldies and casting your vote. The winning song will be played in Hour 3 of this week's show.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Danny Flores, who played the saxophone and shouted the word "tequila!" in the 1958 #1 for five weeks hit song Tequila! by The Champs, has died. He was 77.

Flores, who lived in Westminster, died Tuesday at Huntington Beach Hospital, said hospital spokeswoman Kathleen Curran. He died of complications from pneumonia, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

The man sometimes called the "godfather of Latin rock" was born in Santa Paula but grew up in Long Beach. By age 5 he was playing guitar in church and at 14 he was a member of a trio that performed Mexican music.

In 1957, Flores was in a group that recorded some work with rockabilly singer Dave Burgess. One of the songs was based on a nameless riff Flores had written. He played the "dirty" saxophone part and repeatedly growled the single-word lyric: "Tequila!"

The next year it appeared as the B-side of a single, credited to the Champs. Flores used the name Chuck Rio because he was under contract to a different record label.

"Tequila!" went to No. 1 on the Billboard chart and won a Grammy in 1959 for best rhythm and blues performance. Flores continued to play it for the next 40 years.

"I can honestly tell you he never got tired of playing that song," said his wife, Sharee.

The song has been used in numerous commercials and TV shows. It became popular with a new generation after it was used in the 1985 movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

"After that, we got shows all over the U.S.," said Mrs. Flores, who sang in the shows. "All these younger people who hadn't heard it were suddenly in love with the song. Danny was just so proud of it."

Besides his wife, Flores is survived by seven children from previous marriages and 15 grandchildren.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Al Casey, the West Coast session guitar ace, has died at age 69 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was born October 26, 1936 in Long Beach, California, and was already a veteran of the local music scene by the time he was 17 years old. He started working with Lee Hazelwood on recording sessions. Together they wrote The Fool for Sanford Clark. He went on to take Duane Eddy under his wing while still in high school, and helped develop that "twangy guitar' sound.

His most famous single was Surfin' Hootenanny in 1963, but you'll also remember Cookin' and Jivin' Around.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Jim Reeves was born in Panola County, Texas on August 20, 1923. At an early point in his life, he was working towards a professional baseball career until he suffered an ankle injury. In the early 1950s he became a DJ and worked at KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana.

He joined the cast of the Louisiana Hayride in 1953, then the Grand Ole Opry in 1955. His first release for RCA Victor was in 1957. He charted 23 hits on the pop charts between 1957 and 1966, two years after his death in a plane crash in Nashville, Tennessee on July 31, 1964. He was just 40 years old. I am sure he would have continued to enjoy a highly successful career were it not for the tragic accident. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice features Jim Reeves and two of his signature songs: Four Walls and He'll Have To Go. Come to the Voice Your Choice page and make your selection. The song with the most votes will be played in Hour 3 of this week's show.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

And what a night is was! The official opening night ceremonies of the Red Robinson Show Theatre were a rousing success! Plus there was a who's who of the music and entertainment business in attendance. Milling around the crowd were such recording artists as Chad Allen, the original lead singer for The Guess Who, Terry Jacks, The Poppy Family's Susan Jacks, and many more.

This is an impressive facility; the seating arrangement is mind boggling. The physical layout of this 1,200 seat theatre can change from tiered seating (like a stadium) to a flat surfaced floor for cabaret seating with tables in ten minutes. And it's all done hydraulically, quite amazing. And hanging from the ceiling is the world's larget mirror ball! The rest of the facility showcases a ton of Red's personal music memorabilia including photos of Red with so many stars including Roy Orbison, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Tom Jones, and so many more. There is even his own original radio production studio, all set up and working for future spoecial broadcasts from the venue.

The opening ceremonies were undertaken with Red Robinson sitting on a couch on the stage and then one by one, in true This Is Your Life fashion, personality after personality came out on stage to salute Red. They included legendary radio and tv personality, Wink Martindale, Elvis Presley's drummer DJ Fontana, who was with Elvis for 14 years and played on over 460 cuts for Elvis' RCA recording sessions. Also present was Elvis' lifelong friend and tour manager, Joe Esposito. The President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Terry Stewart had some wonderful things to say about Red and his pioneering career. The famous Peter Reveen The Impossiblist flew in from Los Vegas where he manages the famous Lance Burton, one of the world's greatest magicians. There were also local personalities and political dignitaries on stage to salute Red.

There were a number of video greetings sent in by performers unable to attend in person. They included Tony Orlando, Anne Murray, Mike Reno from Loverboy, and Michael Bublé (one of the hottest talents out there today who got his start as part of a stage musical called Red Rock Diner, a musical based on the early dj days of Red).

And when that was done it was time for the show to begin. Paul Revere and the Raiders took to the stage for a high energy and highly entertaining set, filled with all of their hits and the kooky humour of Paul Revere himself. I was so surprised when he introduced the members of his band. His guitarist has been in the band for 33 years (actually 33 1/3 years, as Paul pointed out - just like a record!). His bass player has been a Raider for 32 years, while his drummer and keyboard player for at least twenty years. I was wondering who would be singing the lead vocals, formerly done by Mark Lindsay. I was very surprised to find out that it was Darren Medley, son of the other half of the evening's entertainment bill, Bill Medley from the Righteous Brothers.

Bill looked and sounded great singing all the fantastic hits by the Righteous Brothers, plus a medley of songs recorded by Ray Charles, which practically took down the house when he sang I Can't Stop Loving You. A loving video tribute to his late partner and soul brother Bobby Hatfield took place while Bill sang Unchained Melody, originally performed on record by Bobby. It was very touching to see and hear Bill Medley and his son Darren sing together on the show closer You're My Soul And Inspiration, which resulted in a standing ovation.

What a night and what a phenomenol tribute to my great friend Red Robinson! I am so glad I was able to attend and participate in this special evening celebrating and recognizing Red for his amazing career and contributions to the community. If you're planning a trip to Vancouver, you need to include the Red Robinson Show Theatre on your list. Upcoming performers at the venue include Little Richard, Huey Lewis & The News, Rosanne Barr, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, James Brown, Brent Butt star of the highly successful comedy tv show Corner Gas, John Kay And Steppenwolf, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and a ton more.

Please be sure to visit Red's website soon, as it will be filled with audio and video clips plus lots of photos from the gala evening. It's www.redrobinson.com.

Friday, September 15, 2006

My good friend, Red Robinson, is all excited. Tonight, Friday, September 15, is the official opening ceremonies of the brand new Red Robinson Show Theatre at the Boulevard Casino in the Vancouver, B.C. community of Coquitlam. Now what is very exciting about this is it's not Red himself who is undertaking this project. The company that operates the Boulevard Casino is naming the theatre in order to honour Red for all he has done for both music and broadcasting in British Columbia.

Red is a pioneering disc jockey, who at age 16, would get a daily pass to leave high school early so that he could get to the radio station to do his own show. He's the first DJ in Canada to play Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues records.

Throughout his career he has been a maverick, and fortunately he has been recognized for his many contributions to broadcasting and the community. I know he is most thrilled and honoured to be one of the few and first disc jockeys to be elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

I am very pleased that I have been invited to attend the gala opening of the Red Robinson Show Theatre this evening. I will be sure to let you know all about who attended and who the performers were that provided the entertainment for the premiere show.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Jim Croce became a household name during his short time on the charts. He started out playing accordian at age five. He became serious about music while attending Villanova College in Pennsylvania, where he formed bands and played fraternity parties and anywhere else he could find to play. One of the bands he was in was chosen for a foreign exchange tour of Africa and the Middle East.

He returned home to Philadelphia, but found it very difficult to make a living from playing music. He held various jobs including writing commercials for a radio station, to teaching discipline problem students. He got back into music when he and his wife Ingrid moved to New York City and started playing coffee houses. He was introduced to Terry Cashman by his Villanova College schoolmate Tommy West. Cashman and West produced an album, Jim And Ingrid, but nothing happened. They returned to Philadelphia where Jim ended up in a construction job.

Everything changed for the better for him in 1972 with the release of his debut solo album, You Don't Mess Around With Jim. When the title song became his first single and hit the Top Ten, there was no looking back. In the two year span of 1972 and 1973, he scored seven hit singles, four of which were Top Ten, two reached #1 and they also achieved Gold record sales. Incidentally, Cashman and West produced his solo records as well as the Jim and Ingrid album.

Tragically, he died in a place crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana on September 20, 1973 at the very young age of 30. His last two big singles, I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song and Workin' At The Car Wash Blues were released posthumously.

This week on Voice Your Choice, Treasure Island Oldies spotlights two of his biggest hits: You Don't Mess Around With Jim and Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Come to the website and cast your vote for the song you prefer. The hit with the most votes will be played in Hour 3 of this week's show.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The Beatles have now received a green light to pursue a massive royalty lawsuit against Capitol Records and parent label group EMI. The action was filed by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, surviving heirs of John Lennon and George Harrison, as well as Beatles business entity Apple Corps. The plaintiffs allege that Capitol wrongly pocketed millions through fraudulent accounting practices. Specifically, the suit seeks minimum damages of $25 million, as well as unspecified punitive damages. New York State Supreme Court Justice Karla Moskowitz authorized the action, and denied a motion by EMI to discard the case.

The Beatles, which are also pushing for a return of their master recordings, raised the lawsuit following a royalty audit. The latest action is part of an ongoing discord between the two parties, one that dates back to 1979. At that point, the group successfully gained higher royalty percentages following a similar lawsuit, though the recent challenge pointed to continued fraudulence. The label has now been accused of improperly classifying various Beatles releases as damaging or destroyed, while actually selling the recordings in question.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Jerry Butler was born December 8, 1939 in Sunflower, Mississippi, and started out singing gospel music as a member of the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers, along with Curtis Mayfield.

Together they later joined The Roosters with Sam Gooden, and brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks. In 1957, they changed their name to The Impressions.

In the fall of 1958, Jerry left The Impressions to start a solo career. His first single, For Your Precious Love, was released on three different labels: Vee-Jay 280 (worth an astounding $6000 today!!!), Falcon 1013 and also Abner 1013. He went on to chart a very impressive 39 singles on the Billboard charts; including 3 Top Ten hits as well as two Gold records.

Today, Jerry Butler can be seen frequently as host of various Doo Wop specials on PBS - Public Television in the United States.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights two great Jerry Butler hits: He Will Break Your Heart (#7 in 1960) and Only The Strong Survive (#4 in 1969). Which is your preferred song? Go to the Voice Your Choice page at Treasure Island Oldies and make your selection. The song with the most votes will be played in Hour 3 of this week's show.

There have been many UK visitors using AOL, which does not indicate the city they are visiting from. However, check out the various cities located all over the United Kingdom that have visited Treasure Island Oldies since Friday, September 1st...

This is fantastic! I welcome you to both the website and the radio show, andI would love to hear from you with your requests and comments. Emil address is requests@treasureislandoldies.com and you can also call our 24/7 Request Line at 206-202-2866. International calling rates will apply.

For the many visually impaired listeners and visitors to the Treasure Island Oldies website, I wanted to be sure that you were made aware of small changes that have been made in the last couple of days.

Please note that on the main page both the Listen and Requests buttons have been moved from the upper right side of the page to the upper left hand side of the page, just above the Voice Your Choice button. We feel that placing these three highly used buttons in one cluster will make it much easier to use these features. This change will also soon be applied to every page on the entire site.

Now that we six months into the new website, we have had a good chance to evaluate the various components and layout. Your input and comments have also been very much appreciated. One thing I am very pleased about is how user friendly the new site is for the visually impaired and how well screen readers are able to navigate around the site. That is great.

I will be sure to post any additional changes and updates that we will be implementing in the near future right here on the Blog.

Loaded Web

About Me

I love good music - period, but I have a passion for the music of
the '50, '60s and '70s. I started Treasure Island Oldies for two
reasons: I had to get back on the air; I missed radio so much. I also
got tired of hearing "good times and 'eight' oldies", and knew with all
my previous radio programming experience, I could offer a weekly oldies
show that would feature familiar songs but also a lot of "instant
memories", songs you have not heard since they were first played on the
radio for a short time, then disappeared, seemingly forever. I knew
having someone hear a song they have not heard for literally 30 or 40
years, would touch a nerve. Perhaps the memory of a special occasion,
or maybe just another day, that particular song really caught their ear
back then. And every time I play one of those what I call Lost
Treasures, I get immediate individual feedback from the chat room,
email and my blogs. So I play a lot of music heard hardly anywhere
else. Join me live Sundays 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific, and also, the weekly
show archives at www.TreasureIslandOldies.com Let the memories flow!